1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to lighting fixture insulation and is designed to be used in the mounting apparatus for lighting fixtures to insulate the heat generated in the lighting fixture from the supporting building structure, such as a wall or ceiling as well as the outlet box to which it is affixed. Proper thermal insulation of lighting fixtures is necessary for proper safety and lightbulb longevity.
2. The Prior Art
General safety requirements within the lighting fixture industry are set by Underwriters' Laboratories which must be closely adhered to. Many efforts have been made through the use of structure, ventilation, heat dissipation and heat insulation in order to meet these safety requirements and also fulfill the asthetic requirement of a commercially viable lighting fixture. There are numerous patents in this field, among them which may be mentioned as relevant to the instant application are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,044,246, 4,104,713, 4,234,916, 4,302,798 and 4,356,540. All of these referenced patents seek to propose solutions to the heat transfer problem mentioned above but none has achieved the same results and none has employed the method of the instant invention.
Prior art solutions to the problem of heat conductivity to the electrical outlet box and to adjacent building materials have been structural designs which reduce the amount of heat conductivity between the fixture pan and the outlet box. The instant invention on the other hand reduces the amount of heat transfer by reducing the amount of heat transmitted to the lighting fixture pan and outlet box with intermediate layers of insulation as described below.